Dublin

Our first full day in Dublin we spent almost the entire day walking through the city. So many things were closed, but it didn't bother us too much. Most of the highlights of Dublin were the food.

Somewhat related to food, we visited the Guinness Storehouse. I learned a little bit about beer, and I even had my first pint. Can't say that I liked it, but at least it was pretty.

The best part of Dublin was Kilmainham Gaol (British spelling of "jail"). It drips with modern Irish history. Inside we learned about how bad things were in Ireland in the 1800s. Prison life was awful. Several people per cell, no plumbing, no heat, very little light, very little food. And yet, people were being arrested on purpose to escape ordinary life in exchange for the luxuries that the prison provided beyond what life outside the prisons could. I learned that the infamous potato famine wasn't really a famine at all. There was plenty of food, but government management of it was very bad, exporting large quantities rather than making it available for its own people.

The jail was also the prison of many very important political heroes. Michael Collins wasn't there, but many like him were, and they were executed/martyred there as well. They were viewed as George Washington caliber heroes of Ireland. Ireland wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for them. And they were prisoners. I absolutely love seeing how history defines criminals. It's a really important perspective, not to mention really fascinating to me.

Our travel home was extended twice. We had a flight from Dublin to London. London to Chicago was delayed a few hours. Chicago to Oklahoma City was cancelled. We did eventually get rebooked on a later flight. But we still got home several hours later than expected at about 2am. Another trip in the bag.